Apple awarded patent for smartwatch in the US

Rumors continue to swirl that Apple is getting ready to launch a smartwatch in the US. A patent has now been granted by the USPTO that covers an electronic wristwatch that was originally filed in July 2011. The patent certainly shows what Apple was thinking about a wearable device as far back as three years ago.

The patent is US Patent 8,787,006 and went public yesterday. If you are hoping that the patent will shed light on what the iWatch, or iTime device might be like, all the patent really shows is what Apple was thinking in 2011. The watch in the line art with the patent looks nothing like the bangle we have seen in concept renderings.

The watch in the patent is a wristband that has a mobile device component that can be clipped onto the band worn on the wrist and can function when off the band too. The patent does call the device iTime, but no note of a trademark being filed for that name has been found. This patent almost looks like a spinoff of the iPod nano watchbands that were common a few years ago.